Categories > Games > Final Fantasy 7 > Deliveries
Deliveries
0 reviewsThe adventures of Cloud Strife, being a delivery boy is much harder than it looks.
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Deliveries: Record I
Delivery 01: Championship Belt
Cloud Strife parked his motorcycle, Fenrir, as close as possible to the cart that would take him to the Gold Saucer. For reasons unknown to him, there was a large crowd gathered there that day. Cloud picked up the box he was to deliver to Dio, and pushed his way through the crowds to board the cart.
He clutched the box close to his body, hoping its unknown contents were not fragile. Now he knew how canned meat felt, pressed between the wall and the people around him. He could have sworn someone's hand brushed him, several times, in a non-accidental way, but he had no idea whose hand it was and thus preferred not to think about it, making an effort to convince himself that it was mere accident.
When the cart was emptied at the Gold Saucer, which left Cloud flattened on the floor after being stepped on by the crowd, his nightmare was far from over. A long line formed in front of the entrance, which Cloud skipped since he was not a customer, he was only there to make a delivery.
"Where do you think you're going?" A large hand pulled Cloud by the back of his shirt. "Cutting in line is so insensitive, but walking by without even saying hello is even more hurtful!" The tall muscular man pulled Cloud into a big bear hug before the delivery boy could protest.
When Cloud was finally free, as if he hasn't been crushed enough at the cart, the delivery boy simply gave the man an odd look and promptly turned around to be well on his way.
"Wait! Aren't you going to say anything?" The man pulled Cloud back.
"I don't know you!" Cloud mentally counted to ten, his patience nearly dry. It took an incredible amount of control to stop himself from slicing this man to pieces.
"How could you say that?" The man dramatized in a suddenly high pitched voice, his eyes becoming watery. But with another sudden mood swing, the man's face brightened. "It's the hair isn't it?" He ran his fingers through his long brunette hair. "You don't recognize me because I changed my hair style. C'mon take a good look."
Cloud backed away as the man leaned close to him. "I have to go now..."
"Mukki!" The muscular man finally revealed his identity. "You remember now, right? I'm Mukki, from the Honey Bee Inn!"
Cloud's eyes went wide as he muttered, "Mukki..."
"Yes, you do remember!" Mukki gave Cloud another hug. "It's been such a long time; we must catch up!"
Cloud slipped out of the embrace and continued to back away, "a delivery, I have to make a delivery!" Then he ran for dear life leaving Mukki talking to himself at the line.
"You have to wait in line, sir," the employee at the entrance instructed.
"I'm here to make a delivery," Cloud tried to explain.
"You have wait in line, sir." She repeated as if she had not heard Cloud at all.
"I'm not here to visit the Gold Saucer; I'm here to make a delivery to Dio." Cloud just wanted to finish his job and get out of there, the noisy crowd and creepy experiences were really bothering him.
"Security!" The girl yelled.
A tall muscular man wearing sparkly purple came out and pushed Cloud back by the shoulders. But Cloud had more unwanted physical contact than he could take in one day and shoved the man away with all his might. The bouncer went flying back and crashed against a wall with a hash impact that knocked him out.
There was a collective gasp from the crowd, followed by a mixture of cheering, critiques and loud gossip. The commotion brought out Dio, who shook his head in disapproval at the state of his bouncer. "I was supposed to wrestle that guy as part of the show."
"Sorry Dio, here's your package." Cloud did not expect to receive a tip after what happened, so he intended to leave right after tossing the flattened box into Dio's arms.
But Dio stopped him. "Wait just a minute, do you know what's in here? A championship belt, I had it specially made. This would have been the belt that the winner of the wrestling match would take home. You knocked out my opponent so you'll have to take his place."
At first Cloud didn't think it was so bad, since he was used to fighting, and he thought wrestling would be the same but without a sword. But even if Dio would forever think of him as a coward and ban him from the Gold Saucer, Cloud ran away as fast as he could when he saw the sparkly pink underwear that would have been his attire during the wrestling match.
Deliver 02: Spear
It was Cloud's first job with that particular delivery company, and if he did well, he could permanently become one of their delivery boys. That's why he made sure to take extra good care of the long thin box he was supposed to deliver to Cid in Rocket Town, and rushed there to take the package to its owner as fast as possible.
Fenrir came to a screeching halt in front of Cid's house. Cloud rang the doorbell and Shera opened the door. "Welcome Cloud, come in, would you like some tea?" Through Cid wasn't there to tell Shera she should serve their guests tea, she had grown into the habit of doing so.
"No thanks, I just need to deliver this package to Cid." Cloud suspected right away that Cid wasn't around. Otherwise the pilot would have already dragged the delivery boy inside the house and ordered him to sit down and drink his 'damn tea'.
Then Shera confirmed it, "Cid went out; he's testing the airship after making some repairs, so he might not be back for a while. I can take the package for him though."
Cloud handed Shera the package and she carefully placed it inside the house, leaving the door open for Cloud. "Are you sure you don't want tea?"
Cloud went inside, closing the door and taking a seat at the table. "I guess so, thanks. I need to wait for Cid anyway, to have him sign this." He held up a clipboard.
"I could sign it for him," Shera offered.
"It has to be signed by Cid," Cloud explained. They had specifically instructed him at the agency to give the packages to their owners, not their spouse, siblings, roommates or friends. He bended the rules and gave the package to Shera, after all she was more careful than Cid anyway. But the fact remained that he still needed Cid's signature and no one else's signature would do.
Though Cloud had other packages to deliver, he stayed in Rocket Town and drank some tea while he waited for Cid to arrive and sign. In retrospect, he should have continued his deliveries and come back for the signature later, or even better, he should have allowed Shera to sign for the package, because by a mocking twist of fate she would end up signing for it anyway.
It wasn't until several hours later that Cid arrived. Cloud was already late with the rest of his deliveries and it would be impossible to make the deadline, thus he wouldn't be getting that permanent job.
The delivery boy didn't know if he should be angry at Cid or at himself, then finally settled for both when Cid received the clipboard and pen, and handed both items to Shera. "It has to be your signature," Cloud reminded Cid.
But the pilot was busy tearing the box apart, itching to go out and test his new spear. "I'm busy now. Besides, Shera always signs things for me; she can forge my signature perfectly."
"But-" Cloud began to protest.
However, Cid was quick to silence him. "If I say it's okay, then it's okay."
Shera signed for the package in Cid's name and Cloud mentally kicked himself.
Delivery 03: Computer
"Can you set that up? That commuter thing?" The chocobo farmer, who didn't look like a very tech savvy person at all, pointed at the computer that Strife Delivery Service just brought.
"It's a computer and my job is only to delivery it." Cloud wasn't in the mood, besides, he had better things to occupy his time.
"I'll give you a nice big tip for that!" But the farmer had money.
And Cloud had an empty wallet starving for some gil. "If you insist..." How hard could it be?
Cloud unpacked the desktop computer and started to set it up. Those machines were made so that things could only be plugged in the right place, because all the plugs were different and they wouldn't fit anywhere else. The few plugs that were similar, speakers, microphone and headphones, were color coded, the speakers were green, the microphone pink and the headphones blue.
"Okay, it's all plugged in now, you just need to put this cable in an electric outlet and you're good to go." Cloud expectantly waited for his payment and tip.
The chocobo farmer gave Cloud a confused look. "What's that?"
"What's what?"
"That electric outlet thing, didn't you deliver it?"
Cloud's eyes went wide; it couldn't be that they didn't have any electricity in the farm; that was just inhuman. "What do you use to provide light at night?"
"Candles."
"What about cooking?"
"Gas stove." Well at least the farmer didn't say camp fire.
Cloud shook his head. Who in their right mind didn't have electricity, or television, or videogames, or cell phones or email or even a refrigerator? "You'll need an electric generator."
"Didn't you deliver it?" The chocobo farmer clearly had no idea what Cloud was talking about.
"No, you only asked me to deliver the computer!" Cloud attempted to reason with him.
"I told you to deliver everything the commuter needed. Didn't you deliver it?"
"It's a computer and yes, I delivered everything, the processor, monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, and everything."
"Then why doesn't it work?"
Cloud took a deep breath and counted to ten, "because you need electricity."
"Didn't you deliver it?"
"No, I didn't deliver it!" Cloud yelled, his patience running dry.
"Well then, if you didn't deliver it," the chocobo farmer continued in his monotonous voice, "then I can't pay you, because you need to finish your delivery."
"I did finish my delivery!"
"Then why doesn't the commuter work?"
"It's a computer, not a commuter, and I already told you, it doesn't work because it needs electricity!"
"But you didn't deliver it..."
"I wasn't supposed to deliver it! You're supposed to buy an electric generator separately and have someone else deliver it. This is my entire delivery right here!" Cloud yelled at the top of his lugs.
The chocobos outside replied with a loud chorus of "wark!" and Cloud felt as if he would have been better off explaining it to them.
There was a long silence and then, in the incredibly annoying monotone the chocobo farmer finally spoke, "well why didn't you say so? When's the next delivery coming?"
"I don't know," Cloud twitched.
"Honestly, kids these days don't know anything..."
Delivery 04: Mistake
-Ding dong!- "Strife delivery service!" Cloud felt silly ringing the door bell and calling that out, but hey, it was an honest job.
Tseng opened the door, "it's about time!" He snatched the package from Cloud and shut the door; he didn't have any time to spare.
Cloud huffed, "no tip?" He hoped that karma would take its vengeance on Tseng.
xoxox xox xoxox
Tseng smiled, knowing he got it right, he found a gift that he knew Elena would love. They had been on a mission together when they took a break for lunch and passed the glass display of a boutique while walking towards a restaurant. "It's so pretty." Elena had said, pointing at the dress on the display. But she didn't go inside the store. With a quick glance at her watch she realized that they didn't have a lot of time. "We should have lunch before it's time to continue the mission." It was her desire to be a good Turk; she always gave the extra mile and didn't slack off.
The atmosphere was perfect, Elena had gladly accepted the invitation to dinner at Tseng's house, she was in a cheerful mood and so was he. After the mission was over, Tseng had secretly gone back to the boutique and bought the dress Elena liked. However, they only had the one on display left, which was subject to the punishment of the glaring Costa Del Sol sun and though it still looked like it was I fine conditions, its color had began to be washed away by the sun. As a result Tseng ordered another dress of the same kind to be delivered to his home so he could give it to Elena.
When Cloud arrived with the package, Tseng didn't even bother checking it, since it was almost time for Elena to arrive. He simply wrapped the box in gift paper and had it ready to be given to Elena. "I have a gift for you."
Elena's face brightened even more and Tseng handed her the package. "Thank you!" She blushed like a school girl, infinitely happy with Tseng's gesture. Tseng was confident and pleased, as Elena tore the wrapping apart, then opened the box. "What in the world is this?"
Then Tseng's confidence fell. Didn't Elena say she liked the dress? But when he looked at the contents of the box, he realized why Elena was so displeased. "That's not... I didn't..."
"Is this is kind of joke?" Elena grabbed the toiled plunger waving it at Tseng threateningly.
"That's not supposed to be there! They must have sent the wrong package. The gift was supposed to be that dress you liked from Costa del Sol!" Tseng tried to explain.
Elena gave Tseng a long look then finally tossed the plunger back into its box. "I'll take your word for it."
Though Elena did forgive Tseng for the misunderstanding, the atmosphere was ruined and the date wasn't as romantic as Tseng planned it out to be. The Turk leader didn't know how, but he would find a way to kill Cloud for this, and until then he wished all bad karma upon the delivery boy.
Delivery 05: Sparkly Pink Thing
It was sparkly and it was pink, and it made Cloud Strife twitch. He didn't like it, he didn't expect it, and he certainly did not intend to keep it, let alone wear it.
But then Tifa got a hold of it and gave Cloud a strange look. "This is..." she trailed off into silence unable to identify the foreign object. "This is..." she never did finish that sentence as she originally intended to, for she did not know the answer. Instead Tifa pointed out the information she gathered from the names written on the package that the mail man, Cloud's competition, had brought. "From Dio?"
It was address the Cloud from Dio indeed, a regular box, sent through the regular mail, with not so regular contents. Cloud grumbles silently about the post office putting him out of business, while leaving his open package unattended on the counter for Tifa to stare at strangely. The frustrated delivery opened it and didn't even bother looking, he had to avert his eyes from the package delivered by the competition if only for a moment.
"Cloud..."
-Grumble, grumble.-
"Cloud..."
-Grumble, grumble.-
"Cloud..."
-Grumble, grumble.-
"Cloud!"
Cloud snapped into attention. Looked at Tifa, observed the weirded-out look on her face, then blinked twice before replying, "yes?"
"What is this?" Tifa pointed at the thing inside the box, it was sparkly, it was pink, and it was odd.
"Um..." Cloud didn't know what to make of it. That thing, whatever it may be, that strange sparkly pink thing, was from Dio, world famous wrestler, theme park owner, collector of oddities and quite an oddball himself.
"Well, what is it? It is addressed to you," Tifa reminded.
"Um..." Cloud tilted his head and extended his gloved finger. "Well..." He poked the pink sparkly thing, "it's..." he poked it again, "odd."
"Yes, I can tell," Tifa rolled her eyes. "But what is it?"
Cloud shrugged, "I don't know, I didn't buy it, it must be a gift or a mistake," and he saw a note inside the box which he picked up and read aloud. "In recognition of your skills," was it a peace offering maybe? Was it an item to reestablish the friendship that was never truly established in the first place?
Tifa raised an eyebrow and waited for Cloud to give her more details, but the short note revealed nothing more. "Where are you going to put it?"
Cloud looked at Tifa as if she grew a second head, "in the closet of course!" He couldn't very well throw the strange sparkly pink thing away, it was a gift after all, but there was no way he would display the strange unknown item anywhere. The thing was odd, it was weird, it was strange and it was bizarre.
Tifa shook her head, "really Cloud, it's a gift, some sort of exotic abstract sparkly pink sculpture or something."
"Or something," Cloud nodded at that, because he couldn't bring himself to call that thing art. "Do you want me to display it somewhere?"
Tifa looked at the thing in the box again, "on second thought, it will be better preserved in the depths of your closet."
Delivery 06: Candle
Though Cloud was reluctant to set foot in the Gold Saucer again, due to past experiences involving running into Mukki there, and Dio sending Cloud an odd sparkly thing; the delivery boy went anyway, to do his job.
The delivery was simple enough, Cloud had to take a candle to the ghost hotel and light it. The candle had some faint marks that he couldn't quite see. It was probably one of those candles that revealed its hidden message when it was lit.
Cloud arrived at the hotel, but it was strangely cheerful. Sure it had all the Halloween-like decorations that it kept all year around, the old-looking furniture, the webs, the false ghosts and the hanged employees. Everything was there, yet the atmosphere carried an unexplainable cheer. Cloud concluded it must have been the sound.
The eerie ghostly wails and mystery movie style noises that were recorded to play over and over in the lobby, were lost to the happy chatter of a group of girls. "He's here!" One of them noticed Cloud, "did you bring the candle?"
"Yes," Cloud was about to give her the candle but the girl refused it.
"Don't forget the contract; you have to light it; this way." Cloud followed the group of girls to one of the hotel rooms. They pointed to a miniature model of the Nibelheim reactor, "put the candle here," specifically where Jenova would be.
Cloud unconsciously took a step back before forcing himself to move forward. He had a very bad feeling about this, which he attributed to the model of the reactor and his own past with it. But it was illogical to think it had any meaning, it was a simple coincidence, and Cloud forced himself to place the candle in the chamber of Jenova.
The girls waited impatiently, and Cloud's foreboding feeling increased, but his business wasn't doing very well and he needed the gil. As soon as the candle was lit, he planned to collect his pay and bolt out of there without looking back. Whatever strange club activities, experiment or witchcraft the girls intended to do, they could do it without him.
Cloud was given a lighter which he used to light the odd green candle that looked as if it was made of life stream, but that was impossible, right? He focused on this task, careful not the burn the cardboard and plastic reactor model. When he turned his attention to the girls again, he nearly felt his heart stop at what he saw. Cloaks, they were all wearing black cloaks, and he almost expected them to start chanting, "reunion!"
However, the mood remained strangely cheerful among them, each girl carrying a happy smile. But even if the girls were in a good mood, Cloud became terrified when they really did start to chant "Reunion! Reunion! Reunion!" Surrounding Cloud and the reactor model.
The frightened delivery boy looked at the candle, the names of Jenova and Sephiroth becoming clear on it. Then the leader of the strange girls spoke, "hear our call, oh great mother Jenova and give birth to Sephiroth once again. Oh great Sephiroth, we offer you this sacrifice, come into our world and bring vengeance upon your enemy, Cloud Strife!"
Screaming at the top of his lungs, Cloud pushed past the creepy girls and ran like a manic. It wasn't so much Sephiroth that frightened him; it was the strange fan girls. Cloud dashed out of the hotel, and out of the Gold Saucer, still shrieking like a tortured soul. He got on Fenrir and drove to the Seventh Heaven well over the speed limit... and with all of that, he forgot to collect his pay.
Delivery 07: Violin
Cloud had it with creepy places. He wished he could deliver packages to normal houses, with normal people, who gave him an above normal tip. But instead he found himself in a place that brought back painful memories, the Shinra Mansion. However, he couldn't refuse this delivery; it was for a comrade after all. Although, Cloud could not imagine what could Vincent want with a violin.
Breathing deeply, Cloud ventured deeper into the abandoned mansion, listening as the floor creaked with each step he took. "Vincent!" There was no reply. "Vincent!" Still nothing, frowning, Cloud continued his search. He didn't really want to go into the basement alone. He was still traumatized by the incident with the Sephiroth fan girls and expected them to pop out of any dark corner. "Vincent!"
Cloud considered leaving the violin and asking Vincent to mail his gil, or transfer it to his savings account, or something, but he really needed it right away. He shook his head and told himself to be brave; the only place left to search was the basement where Vincent most likely was.
Clutching the violin like a comfort plushie, though a hard one, Cloud went down the stairs to finish his delivery job. One of the old steps collapsed under his weight and nearly sent him falling to his doom, or at least to a few broken bones and a shattered violin. But fortunately, Cloud, ever the agile Soldier First Class, if only in his mind, managed to save both himself and the violin, and climb back to the steps, safely continuing his descent into the basement.
Just as he thought, Cloud did in fact find Vincent in the basement, sleeping in a coffin. "Vincent!" Cloud called loudly.
"Five more minutes daddy..." Vincent grumbled before finally realizing that he was not a young Turk in training anymore, and the one calling was not Grimore Valentine but Cloud Strife. "The violin," Vincent spoke as seriously as he could.
Cloud's surprised and weirded out look was overlooked, indicating that Vincent fully intended to ignore the recent odd incident upon his awakening, and no amount of insistence on Cloud's part would make Vincent come close to admitting that it happened. "Here it is."
"Very good, this is your pay, as well as compensation for your trouble coming to this location." Vincent took the violin and handed over the gil.
"Thanks!" Cloud was relieved, his job was over and he actually got his pay and a tip this time, so he could leave. But against his better judgment he didn't leave. "Why do you need a violin anyway?" Curiosity killed the cat, and if Cloud didn't learn to control his, it would also kill the delivery boy.
"To calm the spirits in the mansion," Vincent explained. "Music, especially that of an elegant and classic instrument, can be calming to wandering spirits."
"Wandering spirits?" Cloud repeated, he really hoped Vincent was kidding, but luck was not on his side.
The ghosts of some of the people who had been experimented on and sacrificed in the mansion who were unable to pass away, came out of hiding, passing through the walls, ceiling and various items as Vincent attempted to play the violin and failed miserably because of his golden claw.
The violin's strings snapped, but instead of being relieved, the ghosts continued their rampage while Cloud helplessly slashed at them with his sword. "It doesn't work!"
Vincent observed the angry ghosts and the way Cloud's sword went right through them. "Of course, they are ghosts with no physical body so your sword cannot harm them, but they can harm us." He looked at the broken and scratched violin in disappointment and spoke so calmly that it didn't match the situation at all, "I suggest we leave."
"Suggestion accepted!" Cloud and Vincent hurried out of the mansion chased by the angry ghosts that Vincent had awakened.
Vincent merely wanted to help them. He thought that doing that good deed would be a more effective step towards redemption than simply taking another long nap, but it didn't work out. Nevertheless, when they made it out of the mansion and the ghosts followed them into the sunlight, they were calmed and finally passed away ending their torment. "It worked..."
The sunlight shone upon the abandoned mansion, dissipating all the eerie feelings it might have possessed. As the ghosts vanished, the two men watching concluded that maybe there was a little hope left in their world after all.
Delivery 08: Deadly Game
The box was small, which instead of calming Cloud, it made him suspect. He handled the box with the outmost care, as if fearing that a sudden movement would make it explode.
"It's an emergency!" Reno had said before Tseng snatched the PHS away.
"Cloud, I have a mission for you," the leader spoke seriously. "I have already contacted someone at Shinra; if you go to the lobby and speak to the receptionist you will receive a box. Deliver it to us in Rocket Town."
"I'm telling you, you don't need to do that!" Cid's voice was heard in the background, along with the sound of items being tossed aside, it was very suspicious indeed.
"Hurry," was Tseng's last word before the communication was ended.
Cloud did pick up the box. The receptionist looked calm, provably had no idea what this was about. But Cloud had a theory and it wasn't looking good. He assumed that the box contained some sort of miniature explosive that was super powerful despite its compacted size. Or maybe it was the control that would detonate a previously hidden bomb. Cloud didn't know, and he didn't want to find out the hard way.
None the less, he couldn't very well leave the box in the hands of Shinra, so he pretended to accept his delivery mission and took it. Then he hurried to Rocket Town to get some answers, Cid sounded like he knew something, in fact, he sounded as if he could be in trouble. But the pilot could hold his own in a fight and he should be fine as long as the Turks didn't have the box, now in Cloud's possession.
The delivery boy was tired, exhausted even, but this was no time to rest. Upon his arrival in Rocket Town, Cloud carefully cradled the box in his hands and searched for Cid, sneaking around as if expecting to be ambushed. Shinra was supposed to be reformed, but apparently that was no longer true.
Quietly and quickly, Cloud snuck into Cid's backyard, hiding behind the latest airplane Cid was working on. He softly opened the back door and peeked in. "Cid? Shera?" Cloud whispered, but there was no answer. He listened and heard voices, laughter, and sounds that didn't quite fit in with the situation he theorize was taking place.
Cloud entered the house, tiptoeing towards the source of the sound. He observed the group that was apparently carefree. A yawn escaped Cloud, much louder than he intended, and the Turks and pilot noticed his precense.
"Didn't hear you come in Cloud," the house was a mess, but Cid didn't seem to mind. It looked like there really had been an assault, save for the fact that the Turks were happily sitting around Cid's table eating the snacks Shera brought them, and Cid didn't mind that fact.
"What happened here? What is this?" Cloud held up the little box.
Cid took the box and Cloud gasped at the pilot's careless handling of the tiny box. "I lost my playing cards. I told Tseng he didn't have to send for another deck because I was sure I would find them, but I never did." Cid explained, opening the little box to reveal that it contained a deck of cards.
"Hey Cid, are we going to play sometime this century?" Reno complained. He was tired of waiting and so were the other Turks.
"Shut up and drink your tea, I'm coming." Cid shuffled the cards as he walked to the table. "Hey spiky, are you staying too?"
Cloud could only blink and nod dumbly. He rushed to make this delivery, despite being in desperate need of rest, and it turned out that there was no battle, no danger, no secret attacks and no explosives, just a normal deck of cards.
Delivery 09: An Unwelcome Favor
"Delivery for Reno," Cloud called out, but it was Rude who opened the door.
"Next door," the bald Turk quietly spoke.
"Um, sorry," Cloud went off to deliver the package to the correct address this time, and was about to knock on the door when he spotted a note attached to said door. The delivery boy read the note aloud, "I'm not here, leave my package with Rude." He shrugged and returned to Rude's door, knocking on it again.
Rude opened the door and found Cloud, whom he had sent away a mere few seconds ago.
"Reno left a note on the door saying I should leave his package with you." Cloud handed Rude the box.
Rude received it, this was nothing new coming from Reno. "Sign?"
"Oh yes, you need to sign this, well Reno is supposed to sign it, but I think it's okay if you sign it in his name." Cloud had learned that sometimes a fake signature looked more real than a real one, especially when the one with the real signature was lazy and got someone else to sign for him all the time. Reno wasn't the only one who did that, and Cloud had learned from experience not to say no a forged signature.
Rude signed the receipt, kept the package, and Cloud went on his way.
The same scenario was repeated several times over the past few evenings. It continued until one day Cloud was able to catch Reno returning to his apartment after a mission. "Reno!"
The redhead, rushed to get inside, closed the door and locked it.
Needless to say, Cloud was surprised by the action. "Reno, your package!"
There was no answer.
"Reno!" Cloud continued to call.
Still, there was no answer.
"Reno!" Cloud would not give up.
Realizing that he had no choice, Reno finally replied, "read the note!"
But Cloud continued knocking on the door, "I already read it, but this time you're here!"
"Do what the note says!" Reno insisted.
"Why?" Cloud was tired of bothering Rude with Reno's packages. How lazy could the redhead be? Besides, the entire situation looked suspicious, and Cloud was starting to think that Reno was up to some mischief.
"Because you know you want to," Reno's answer was as confusing as it could be.
"What do you mean?" Cloud asked.
Reno opened the door of his apartment a few inches and peeked out at the puzzled Cloud, "go, I'm doing you a favor, so go."
"A favor? You're not even the one paying for these packages, it's some guy called Kurt Nores that keeps sending you things..." Cloud paused, Kurt Nores... if the letters were rearranged it spelled Reno Turks. "Why would you mail yourself?"
"So you have the chance to talk to Rude. I don't think things are going well with Tifa, so I'm helping you both get over your broken hearts together as friends who share the same pain... and I'm amusing myself at the same time," Reno admitted.
With mischievous, gossip spreading people like Reno around, Cloud would never be allowed to have peace. The delivery boy didn't know how it was possible that Rude had not killed Reno yet. However, Cloud did not have Rude's patience, and that is how Reno ended up running for his life again.
Delivery 10: Feathered Fedora
Cloud was told to handle the packages with care, and he did, thus they arrived intact, not flattened like Tseng had feared. However, that was the least of the Turk's worries at the moment. Cloud was greeted by Tseng's voice saying "I can't believe Rufus backed out of this." He was wearing a silly costume reminiscent of old times, the 1920's, the 1950', the 1800's or even further away, Cloud did not know.
"Delivery..." Cloud spoke softly as he entered the Shinra auditorium, his voice echoing in its emptiness. "For Tseng..." he finished.
"Tseng received the package and paid the bill as naturally as can be, despite his overly elaborate suit, and paused only to look at Cloud with a plan reflected in his eyes. The delivery boy backed away slowly, soon breaking into a run. He had to reach Fenrir parked outside; then they wouldn't be able to catch him after that.
"Stay," it was funny how Rude's voice sounded so commanding, as the command would be more fitting for a dog than a human. But when Cloud ran straight into the taller man, he had no choice but to stay, because the Turk was blocking his path.
To add to the irony Cloud could only whimper, "why?"
"Because Rufus got stage fright," Tseng replied, with a very evil glint in his eyes that showed his wish of making the world suffer as much as he was about to suffer.
"It's not so bad," Elena tried to be optimistic, but it was impossible to decipher if her words were meant for Cloud, who was surrounded by the four Turks, or for her fellow Turks who suffered the same predicament she was in. Her dress was just as silly as their suits and they were all set to partake in a play that night.
"Loveless!" Reno cheered as if he was happy, or at least amused, by the possibility of acting out the play he didn't even understand. But far from being reassured by the redhead's confidence, the leader only worried more, thinking that Reno would do something stupid and uncalled for on the stage, forget his lines, or cause disaster one way or another.
"Loveless?" Cloud repeated unsure, as if that one word would be his doom, and for all he knew it might be. "Loveless!" He spoke again when the meaning finally sunk in. Rufus got stage fright, or so they said, but truth or not, the point was that the pretty boy president backed out and left the Turks to find another actor to replace him in their odd interpretation of the classic Loveless, for the sake of showing Shinra's good will.
While Rude dragged Cloud away to ensure that he got into his costume and understood that he would be hunted down if he escaped, Tseng opened up the packages and handed out the feathered hats. The hat only made Tseng feel even sillier, and when Cloud came back in his ridiculous old style suit, he felt silly with his suit and hat as well.
The two that were least affected were Reno and Rude. Though Elena didn't need to wear a silly hat herself but her dress was festive enough. Reno was amused by the feather and proceeded to play with it, while Tseng continuously warned him not to ruin it. Rude was simply thankful to have something on his head. The bald Turk didn't wear hats, he didn't hide his lack of hair, but now he had an excuse to cover his head and for that he was thankful; especially because the air conditioner was very cold, and those with hair simply did not understand what it was like to get a brain freeze without ice-cream.
End of Record I
Disclaimer, I don't own Final Fantasy VII. Delivery 01 was requested by Hikou. Deliveries 02, 07 and 08 were requested by Snow. The keywords and basic ideas were a spear and Rocket Town for 02, violin, Vincent, Shinra Mansion and hope for 07 and a deck of playing cards for 08. Delivery 03 was requested by Nique, a computer and the Chocobo Farm. Delivery 04 was requested by Feather-wolf. Delivery 06 was requested by Cherri. Delivery 10 was requested by Kaeghlighn.
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Deliveries: Record I
Delivery 01: Championship Belt
Cloud Strife parked his motorcycle, Fenrir, as close as possible to the cart that would take him to the Gold Saucer. For reasons unknown to him, there was a large crowd gathered there that day. Cloud picked up the box he was to deliver to Dio, and pushed his way through the crowds to board the cart.
He clutched the box close to his body, hoping its unknown contents were not fragile. Now he knew how canned meat felt, pressed between the wall and the people around him. He could have sworn someone's hand brushed him, several times, in a non-accidental way, but he had no idea whose hand it was and thus preferred not to think about it, making an effort to convince himself that it was mere accident.
When the cart was emptied at the Gold Saucer, which left Cloud flattened on the floor after being stepped on by the crowd, his nightmare was far from over. A long line formed in front of the entrance, which Cloud skipped since he was not a customer, he was only there to make a delivery.
"Where do you think you're going?" A large hand pulled Cloud by the back of his shirt. "Cutting in line is so insensitive, but walking by without even saying hello is even more hurtful!" The tall muscular man pulled Cloud into a big bear hug before the delivery boy could protest.
When Cloud was finally free, as if he hasn't been crushed enough at the cart, the delivery boy simply gave the man an odd look and promptly turned around to be well on his way.
"Wait! Aren't you going to say anything?" The man pulled Cloud back.
"I don't know you!" Cloud mentally counted to ten, his patience nearly dry. It took an incredible amount of control to stop himself from slicing this man to pieces.
"How could you say that?" The man dramatized in a suddenly high pitched voice, his eyes becoming watery. But with another sudden mood swing, the man's face brightened. "It's the hair isn't it?" He ran his fingers through his long brunette hair. "You don't recognize me because I changed my hair style. C'mon take a good look."
Cloud backed away as the man leaned close to him. "I have to go now..."
"Mukki!" The muscular man finally revealed his identity. "You remember now, right? I'm Mukki, from the Honey Bee Inn!"
Cloud's eyes went wide as he muttered, "Mukki..."
"Yes, you do remember!" Mukki gave Cloud another hug. "It's been such a long time; we must catch up!"
Cloud slipped out of the embrace and continued to back away, "a delivery, I have to make a delivery!" Then he ran for dear life leaving Mukki talking to himself at the line.
"You have to wait in line, sir," the employee at the entrance instructed.
"I'm here to make a delivery," Cloud tried to explain.
"You have wait in line, sir." She repeated as if she had not heard Cloud at all.
"I'm not here to visit the Gold Saucer; I'm here to make a delivery to Dio." Cloud just wanted to finish his job and get out of there, the noisy crowd and creepy experiences were really bothering him.
"Security!" The girl yelled.
A tall muscular man wearing sparkly purple came out and pushed Cloud back by the shoulders. But Cloud had more unwanted physical contact than he could take in one day and shoved the man away with all his might. The bouncer went flying back and crashed against a wall with a hash impact that knocked him out.
There was a collective gasp from the crowd, followed by a mixture of cheering, critiques and loud gossip. The commotion brought out Dio, who shook his head in disapproval at the state of his bouncer. "I was supposed to wrestle that guy as part of the show."
"Sorry Dio, here's your package." Cloud did not expect to receive a tip after what happened, so he intended to leave right after tossing the flattened box into Dio's arms.
But Dio stopped him. "Wait just a minute, do you know what's in here? A championship belt, I had it specially made. This would have been the belt that the winner of the wrestling match would take home. You knocked out my opponent so you'll have to take his place."
At first Cloud didn't think it was so bad, since he was used to fighting, and he thought wrestling would be the same but without a sword. But even if Dio would forever think of him as a coward and ban him from the Gold Saucer, Cloud ran away as fast as he could when he saw the sparkly pink underwear that would have been his attire during the wrestling match.
Deliver 02: Spear
It was Cloud's first job with that particular delivery company, and if he did well, he could permanently become one of their delivery boys. That's why he made sure to take extra good care of the long thin box he was supposed to deliver to Cid in Rocket Town, and rushed there to take the package to its owner as fast as possible.
Fenrir came to a screeching halt in front of Cid's house. Cloud rang the doorbell and Shera opened the door. "Welcome Cloud, come in, would you like some tea?" Through Cid wasn't there to tell Shera she should serve their guests tea, she had grown into the habit of doing so.
"No thanks, I just need to deliver this package to Cid." Cloud suspected right away that Cid wasn't around. Otherwise the pilot would have already dragged the delivery boy inside the house and ordered him to sit down and drink his 'damn tea'.
Then Shera confirmed it, "Cid went out; he's testing the airship after making some repairs, so he might not be back for a while. I can take the package for him though."
Cloud handed Shera the package and she carefully placed it inside the house, leaving the door open for Cloud. "Are you sure you don't want tea?"
Cloud went inside, closing the door and taking a seat at the table. "I guess so, thanks. I need to wait for Cid anyway, to have him sign this." He held up a clipboard.
"I could sign it for him," Shera offered.
"It has to be signed by Cid," Cloud explained. They had specifically instructed him at the agency to give the packages to their owners, not their spouse, siblings, roommates or friends. He bended the rules and gave the package to Shera, after all she was more careful than Cid anyway. But the fact remained that he still needed Cid's signature and no one else's signature would do.
Though Cloud had other packages to deliver, he stayed in Rocket Town and drank some tea while he waited for Cid to arrive and sign. In retrospect, he should have continued his deliveries and come back for the signature later, or even better, he should have allowed Shera to sign for the package, because by a mocking twist of fate she would end up signing for it anyway.
It wasn't until several hours later that Cid arrived. Cloud was already late with the rest of his deliveries and it would be impossible to make the deadline, thus he wouldn't be getting that permanent job.
The delivery boy didn't know if he should be angry at Cid or at himself, then finally settled for both when Cid received the clipboard and pen, and handed both items to Shera. "It has to be your signature," Cloud reminded Cid.
But the pilot was busy tearing the box apart, itching to go out and test his new spear. "I'm busy now. Besides, Shera always signs things for me; she can forge my signature perfectly."
"But-" Cloud began to protest.
However, Cid was quick to silence him. "If I say it's okay, then it's okay."
Shera signed for the package in Cid's name and Cloud mentally kicked himself.
Delivery 03: Computer
"Can you set that up? That commuter thing?" The chocobo farmer, who didn't look like a very tech savvy person at all, pointed at the computer that Strife Delivery Service just brought.
"It's a computer and my job is only to delivery it." Cloud wasn't in the mood, besides, he had better things to occupy his time.
"I'll give you a nice big tip for that!" But the farmer had money.
And Cloud had an empty wallet starving for some gil. "If you insist..." How hard could it be?
Cloud unpacked the desktop computer and started to set it up. Those machines were made so that things could only be plugged in the right place, because all the plugs were different and they wouldn't fit anywhere else. The few plugs that were similar, speakers, microphone and headphones, were color coded, the speakers were green, the microphone pink and the headphones blue.
"Okay, it's all plugged in now, you just need to put this cable in an electric outlet and you're good to go." Cloud expectantly waited for his payment and tip.
The chocobo farmer gave Cloud a confused look. "What's that?"
"What's what?"
"That electric outlet thing, didn't you deliver it?"
Cloud's eyes went wide; it couldn't be that they didn't have any electricity in the farm; that was just inhuman. "What do you use to provide light at night?"
"Candles."
"What about cooking?"
"Gas stove." Well at least the farmer didn't say camp fire.
Cloud shook his head. Who in their right mind didn't have electricity, or television, or videogames, or cell phones or email or even a refrigerator? "You'll need an electric generator."
"Didn't you deliver it?" The chocobo farmer clearly had no idea what Cloud was talking about.
"No, you only asked me to deliver the computer!" Cloud attempted to reason with him.
"I told you to deliver everything the commuter needed. Didn't you deliver it?"
"It's a computer and yes, I delivered everything, the processor, monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, and everything."
"Then why doesn't it work?"
Cloud took a deep breath and counted to ten, "because you need electricity."
"Didn't you deliver it?"
"No, I didn't deliver it!" Cloud yelled, his patience running dry.
"Well then, if you didn't deliver it," the chocobo farmer continued in his monotonous voice, "then I can't pay you, because you need to finish your delivery."
"I did finish my delivery!"
"Then why doesn't the commuter work?"
"It's a computer, not a commuter, and I already told you, it doesn't work because it needs electricity!"
"But you didn't deliver it..."
"I wasn't supposed to deliver it! You're supposed to buy an electric generator separately and have someone else deliver it. This is my entire delivery right here!" Cloud yelled at the top of his lugs.
The chocobos outside replied with a loud chorus of "wark!" and Cloud felt as if he would have been better off explaining it to them.
There was a long silence and then, in the incredibly annoying monotone the chocobo farmer finally spoke, "well why didn't you say so? When's the next delivery coming?"
"I don't know," Cloud twitched.
"Honestly, kids these days don't know anything..."
Delivery 04: Mistake
-Ding dong!- "Strife delivery service!" Cloud felt silly ringing the door bell and calling that out, but hey, it was an honest job.
Tseng opened the door, "it's about time!" He snatched the package from Cloud and shut the door; he didn't have any time to spare.
Cloud huffed, "no tip?" He hoped that karma would take its vengeance on Tseng.
xoxox xox xoxox
Tseng smiled, knowing he got it right, he found a gift that he knew Elena would love. They had been on a mission together when they took a break for lunch and passed the glass display of a boutique while walking towards a restaurant. "It's so pretty." Elena had said, pointing at the dress on the display. But she didn't go inside the store. With a quick glance at her watch she realized that they didn't have a lot of time. "We should have lunch before it's time to continue the mission." It was her desire to be a good Turk; she always gave the extra mile and didn't slack off.
The atmosphere was perfect, Elena had gladly accepted the invitation to dinner at Tseng's house, she was in a cheerful mood and so was he. After the mission was over, Tseng had secretly gone back to the boutique and bought the dress Elena liked. However, they only had the one on display left, which was subject to the punishment of the glaring Costa Del Sol sun and though it still looked like it was I fine conditions, its color had began to be washed away by the sun. As a result Tseng ordered another dress of the same kind to be delivered to his home so he could give it to Elena.
When Cloud arrived with the package, Tseng didn't even bother checking it, since it was almost time for Elena to arrive. He simply wrapped the box in gift paper and had it ready to be given to Elena. "I have a gift for you."
Elena's face brightened even more and Tseng handed her the package. "Thank you!" She blushed like a school girl, infinitely happy with Tseng's gesture. Tseng was confident and pleased, as Elena tore the wrapping apart, then opened the box. "What in the world is this?"
Then Tseng's confidence fell. Didn't Elena say she liked the dress? But when he looked at the contents of the box, he realized why Elena was so displeased. "That's not... I didn't..."
"Is this is kind of joke?" Elena grabbed the toiled plunger waving it at Tseng threateningly.
"That's not supposed to be there! They must have sent the wrong package. The gift was supposed to be that dress you liked from Costa del Sol!" Tseng tried to explain.
Elena gave Tseng a long look then finally tossed the plunger back into its box. "I'll take your word for it."
Though Elena did forgive Tseng for the misunderstanding, the atmosphere was ruined and the date wasn't as romantic as Tseng planned it out to be. The Turk leader didn't know how, but he would find a way to kill Cloud for this, and until then he wished all bad karma upon the delivery boy.
Delivery 05: Sparkly Pink Thing
It was sparkly and it was pink, and it made Cloud Strife twitch. He didn't like it, he didn't expect it, and he certainly did not intend to keep it, let alone wear it.
But then Tifa got a hold of it and gave Cloud a strange look. "This is..." she trailed off into silence unable to identify the foreign object. "This is..." she never did finish that sentence as she originally intended to, for she did not know the answer. Instead Tifa pointed out the information she gathered from the names written on the package that the mail man, Cloud's competition, had brought. "From Dio?"
It was address the Cloud from Dio indeed, a regular box, sent through the regular mail, with not so regular contents. Cloud grumbles silently about the post office putting him out of business, while leaving his open package unattended on the counter for Tifa to stare at strangely. The frustrated delivery opened it and didn't even bother looking, he had to avert his eyes from the package delivered by the competition if only for a moment.
"Cloud..."
-Grumble, grumble.-
"Cloud..."
-Grumble, grumble.-
"Cloud..."
-Grumble, grumble.-
"Cloud!"
Cloud snapped into attention. Looked at Tifa, observed the weirded-out look on her face, then blinked twice before replying, "yes?"
"What is this?" Tifa pointed at the thing inside the box, it was sparkly, it was pink, and it was odd.
"Um..." Cloud didn't know what to make of it. That thing, whatever it may be, that strange sparkly pink thing, was from Dio, world famous wrestler, theme park owner, collector of oddities and quite an oddball himself.
"Well, what is it? It is addressed to you," Tifa reminded.
"Um..." Cloud tilted his head and extended his gloved finger. "Well..." He poked the pink sparkly thing, "it's..." he poked it again, "odd."
"Yes, I can tell," Tifa rolled her eyes. "But what is it?"
Cloud shrugged, "I don't know, I didn't buy it, it must be a gift or a mistake," and he saw a note inside the box which he picked up and read aloud. "In recognition of your skills," was it a peace offering maybe? Was it an item to reestablish the friendship that was never truly established in the first place?
Tifa raised an eyebrow and waited for Cloud to give her more details, but the short note revealed nothing more. "Where are you going to put it?"
Cloud looked at Tifa as if she grew a second head, "in the closet of course!" He couldn't very well throw the strange sparkly pink thing away, it was a gift after all, but there was no way he would display the strange unknown item anywhere. The thing was odd, it was weird, it was strange and it was bizarre.
Tifa shook her head, "really Cloud, it's a gift, some sort of exotic abstract sparkly pink sculpture or something."
"Or something," Cloud nodded at that, because he couldn't bring himself to call that thing art. "Do you want me to display it somewhere?"
Tifa looked at the thing in the box again, "on second thought, it will be better preserved in the depths of your closet."
Delivery 06: Candle
Though Cloud was reluctant to set foot in the Gold Saucer again, due to past experiences involving running into Mukki there, and Dio sending Cloud an odd sparkly thing; the delivery boy went anyway, to do his job.
The delivery was simple enough, Cloud had to take a candle to the ghost hotel and light it. The candle had some faint marks that he couldn't quite see. It was probably one of those candles that revealed its hidden message when it was lit.
Cloud arrived at the hotel, but it was strangely cheerful. Sure it had all the Halloween-like decorations that it kept all year around, the old-looking furniture, the webs, the false ghosts and the hanged employees. Everything was there, yet the atmosphere carried an unexplainable cheer. Cloud concluded it must have been the sound.
The eerie ghostly wails and mystery movie style noises that were recorded to play over and over in the lobby, were lost to the happy chatter of a group of girls. "He's here!" One of them noticed Cloud, "did you bring the candle?"
"Yes," Cloud was about to give her the candle but the girl refused it.
"Don't forget the contract; you have to light it; this way." Cloud followed the group of girls to one of the hotel rooms. They pointed to a miniature model of the Nibelheim reactor, "put the candle here," specifically where Jenova would be.
Cloud unconsciously took a step back before forcing himself to move forward. He had a very bad feeling about this, which he attributed to the model of the reactor and his own past with it. But it was illogical to think it had any meaning, it was a simple coincidence, and Cloud forced himself to place the candle in the chamber of Jenova.
The girls waited impatiently, and Cloud's foreboding feeling increased, but his business wasn't doing very well and he needed the gil. As soon as the candle was lit, he planned to collect his pay and bolt out of there without looking back. Whatever strange club activities, experiment or witchcraft the girls intended to do, they could do it without him.
Cloud was given a lighter which he used to light the odd green candle that looked as if it was made of life stream, but that was impossible, right? He focused on this task, careful not the burn the cardboard and plastic reactor model. When he turned his attention to the girls again, he nearly felt his heart stop at what he saw. Cloaks, they were all wearing black cloaks, and he almost expected them to start chanting, "reunion!"
However, the mood remained strangely cheerful among them, each girl carrying a happy smile. But even if the girls were in a good mood, Cloud became terrified when they really did start to chant "Reunion! Reunion! Reunion!" Surrounding Cloud and the reactor model.
The frightened delivery boy looked at the candle, the names of Jenova and Sephiroth becoming clear on it. Then the leader of the strange girls spoke, "hear our call, oh great mother Jenova and give birth to Sephiroth once again. Oh great Sephiroth, we offer you this sacrifice, come into our world and bring vengeance upon your enemy, Cloud Strife!"
Screaming at the top of his lungs, Cloud pushed past the creepy girls and ran like a manic. It wasn't so much Sephiroth that frightened him; it was the strange fan girls. Cloud dashed out of the hotel, and out of the Gold Saucer, still shrieking like a tortured soul. He got on Fenrir and drove to the Seventh Heaven well over the speed limit... and with all of that, he forgot to collect his pay.
Delivery 07: Violin
Cloud had it with creepy places. He wished he could deliver packages to normal houses, with normal people, who gave him an above normal tip. But instead he found himself in a place that brought back painful memories, the Shinra Mansion. However, he couldn't refuse this delivery; it was for a comrade after all. Although, Cloud could not imagine what could Vincent want with a violin.
Breathing deeply, Cloud ventured deeper into the abandoned mansion, listening as the floor creaked with each step he took. "Vincent!" There was no reply. "Vincent!" Still nothing, frowning, Cloud continued his search. He didn't really want to go into the basement alone. He was still traumatized by the incident with the Sephiroth fan girls and expected them to pop out of any dark corner. "Vincent!"
Cloud considered leaving the violin and asking Vincent to mail his gil, or transfer it to his savings account, or something, but he really needed it right away. He shook his head and told himself to be brave; the only place left to search was the basement where Vincent most likely was.
Clutching the violin like a comfort plushie, though a hard one, Cloud went down the stairs to finish his delivery job. One of the old steps collapsed under his weight and nearly sent him falling to his doom, or at least to a few broken bones and a shattered violin. But fortunately, Cloud, ever the agile Soldier First Class, if only in his mind, managed to save both himself and the violin, and climb back to the steps, safely continuing his descent into the basement.
Just as he thought, Cloud did in fact find Vincent in the basement, sleeping in a coffin. "Vincent!" Cloud called loudly.
"Five more minutes daddy..." Vincent grumbled before finally realizing that he was not a young Turk in training anymore, and the one calling was not Grimore Valentine but Cloud Strife. "The violin," Vincent spoke as seriously as he could.
Cloud's surprised and weirded out look was overlooked, indicating that Vincent fully intended to ignore the recent odd incident upon his awakening, and no amount of insistence on Cloud's part would make Vincent come close to admitting that it happened. "Here it is."
"Very good, this is your pay, as well as compensation for your trouble coming to this location." Vincent took the violin and handed over the gil.
"Thanks!" Cloud was relieved, his job was over and he actually got his pay and a tip this time, so he could leave. But against his better judgment he didn't leave. "Why do you need a violin anyway?" Curiosity killed the cat, and if Cloud didn't learn to control his, it would also kill the delivery boy.
"To calm the spirits in the mansion," Vincent explained. "Music, especially that of an elegant and classic instrument, can be calming to wandering spirits."
"Wandering spirits?" Cloud repeated, he really hoped Vincent was kidding, but luck was not on his side.
The ghosts of some of the people who had been experimented on and sacrificed in the mansion who were unable to pass away, came out of hiding, passing through the walls, ceiling and various items as Vincent attempted to play the violin and failed miserably because of his golden claw.
The violin's strings snapped, but instead of being relieved, the ghosts continued their rampage while Cloud helplessly slashed at them with his sword. "It doesn't work!"
Vincent observed the angry ghosts and the way Cloud's sword went right through them. "Of course, they are ghosts with no physical body so your sword cannot harm them, but they can harm us." He looked at the broken and scratched violin in disappointment and spoke so calmly that it didn't match the situation at all, "I suggest we leave."
"Suggestion accepted!" Cloud and Vincent hurried out of the mansion chased by the angry ghosts that Vincent had awakened.
Vincent merely wanted to help them. He thought that doing that good deed would be a more effective step towards redemption than simply taking another long nap, but it didn't work out. Nevertheless, when they made it out of the mansion and the ghosts followed them into the sunlight, they were calmed and finally passed away ending their torment. "It worked..."
The sunlight shone upon the abandoned mansion, dissipating all the eerie feelings it might have possessed. As the ghosts vanished, the two men watching concluded that maybe there was a little hope left in their world after all.
Delivery 08: Deadly Game
The box was small, which instead of calming Cloud, it made him suspect. He handled the box with the outmost care, as if fearing that a sudden movement would make it explode.
"It's an emergency!" Reno had said before Tseng snatched the PHS away.
"Cloud, I have a mission for you," the leader spoke seriously. "I have already contacted someone at Shinra; if you go to the lobby and speak to the receptionist you will receive a box. Deliver it to us in Rocket Town."
"I'm telling you, you don't need to do that!" Cid's voice was heard in the background, along with the sound of items being tossed aside, it was very suspicious indeed.
"Hurry," was Tseng's last word before the communication was ended.
Cloud did pick up the box. The receptionist looked calm, provably had no idea what this was about. But Cloud had a theory and it wasn't looking good. He assumed that the box contained some sort of miniature explosive that was super powerful despite its compacted size. Or maybe it was the control that would detonate a previously hidden bomb. Cloud didn't know, and he didn't want to find out the hard way.
None the less, he couldn't very well leave the box in the hands of Shinra, so he pretended to accept his delivery mission and took it. Then he hurried to Rocket Town to get some answers, Cid sounded like he knew something, in fact, he sounded as if he could be in trouble. But the pilot could hold his own in a fight and he should be fine as long as the Turks didn't have the box, now in Cloud's possession.
The delivery boy was tired, exhausted even, but this was no time to rest. Upon his arrival in Rocket Town, Cloud carefully cradled the box in his hands and searched for Cid, sneaking around as if expecting to be ambushed. Shinra was supposed to be reformed, but apparently that was no longer true.
Quietly and quickly, Cloud snuck into Cid's backyard, hiding behind the latest airplane Cid was working on. He softly opened the back door and peeked in. "Cid? Shera?" Cloud whispered, but there was no answer. He listened and heard voices, laughter, and sounds that didn't quite fit in with the situation he theorize was taking place.
Cloud entered the house, tiptoeing towards the source of the sound. He observed the group that was apparently carefree. A yawn escaped Cloud, much louder than he intended, and the Turks and pilot noticed his precense.
"Didn't hear you come in Cloud," the house was a mess, but Cid didn't seem to mind. It looked like there really had been an assault, save for the fact that the Turks were happily sitting around Cid's table eating the snacks Shera brought them, and Cid didn't mind that fact.
"What happened here? What is this?" Cloud held up the little box.
Cid took the box and Cloud gasped at the pilot's careless handling of the tiny box. "I lost my playing cards. I told Tseng he didn't have to send for another deck because I was sure I would find them, but I never did." Cid explained, opening the little box to reveal that it contained a deck of cards.
"Hey Cid, are we going to play sometime this century?" Reno complained. He was tired of waiting and so were the other Turks.
"Shut up and drink your tea, I'm coming." Cid shuffled the cards as he walked to the table. "Hey spiky, are you staying too?"
Cloud could only blink and nod dumbly. He rushed to make this delivery, despite being in desperate need of rest, and it turned out that there was no battle, no danger, no secret attacks and no explosives, just a normal deck of cards.
Delivery 09: An Unwelcome Favor
"Delivery for Reno," Cloud called out, but it was Rude who opened the door.
"Next door," the bald Turk quietly spoke.
"Um, sorry," Cloud went off to deliver the package to the correct address this time, and was about to knock on the door when he spotted a note attached to said door. The delivery boy read the note aloud, "I'm not here, leave my package with Rude." He shrugged and returned to Rude's door, knocking on it again.
Rude opened the door and found Cloud, whom he had sent away a mere few seconds ago.
"Reno left a note on the door saying I should leave his package with you." Cloud handed Rude the box.
Rude received it, this was nothing new coming from Reno. "Sign?"
"Oh yes, you need to sign this, well Reno is supposed to sign it, but I think it's okay if you sign it in his name." Cloud had learned that sometimes a fake signature looked more real than a real one, especially when the one with the real signature was lazy and got someone else to sign for him all the time. Reno wasn't the only one who did that, and Cloud had learned from experience not to say no a forged signature.
Rude signed the receipt, kept the package, and Cloud went on his way.
The same scenario was repeated several times over the past few evenings. It continued until one day Cloud was able to catch Reno returning to his apartment after a mission. "Reno!"
The redhead, rushed to get inside, closed the door and locked it.
Needless to say, Cloud was surprised by the action. "Reno, your package!"
There was no answer.
"Reno!" Cloud continued to call.
Still, there was no answer.
"Reno!" Cloud would not give up.
Realizing that he had no choice, Reno finally replied, "read the note!"
But Cloud continued knocking on the door, "I already read it, but this time you're here!"
"Do what the note says!" Reno insisted.
"Why?" Cloud was tired of bothering Rude with Reno's packages. How lazy could the redhead be? Besides, the entire situation looked suspicious, and Cloud was starting to think that Reno was up to some mischief.
"Because you know you want to," Reno's answer was as confusing as it could be.
"What do you mean?" Cloud asked.
Reno opened the door of his apartment a few inches and peeked out at the puzzled Cloud, "go, I'm doing you a favor, so go."
"A favor? You're not even the one paying for these packages, it's some guy called Kurt Nores that keeps sending you things..." Cloud paused, Kurt Nores... if the letters were rearranged it spelled Reno Turks. "Why would you mail yourself?"
"So you have the chance to talk to Rude. I don't think things are going well with Tifa, so I'm helping you both get over your broken hearts together as friends who share the same pain... and I'm amusing myself at the same time," Reno admitted.
With mischievous, gossip spreading people like Reno around, Cloud would never be allowed to have peace. The delivery boy didn't know how it was possible that Rude had not killed Reno yet. However, Cloud did not have Rude's patience, and that is how Reno ended up running for his life again.
Delivery 10: Feathered Fedora
Cloud was told to handle the packages with care, and he did, thus they arrived intact, not flattened like Tseng had feared. However, that was the least of the Turk's worries at the moment. Cloud was greeted by Tseng's voice saying "I can't believe Rufus backed out of this." He was wearing a silly costume reminiscent of old times, the 1920's, the 1950', the 1800's or even further away, Cloud did not know.
"Delivery..." Cloud spoke softly as he entered the Shinra auditorium, his voice echoing in its emptiness. "For Tseng..." he finished.
"Tseng received the package and paid the bill as naturally as can be, despite his overly elaborate suit, and paused only to look at Cloud with a plan reflected in his eyes. The delivery boy backed away slowly, soon breaking into a run. He had to reach Fenrir parked outside; then they wouldn't be able to catch him after that.
"Stay," it was funny how Rude's voice sounded so commanding, as the command would be more fitting for a dog than a human. But when Cloud ran straight into the taller man, he had no choice but to stay, because the Turk was blocking his path.
To add to the irony Cloud could only whimper, "why?"
"Because Rufus got stage fright," Tseng replied, with a very evil glint in his eyes that showed his wish of making the world suffer as much as he was about to suffer.
"It's not so bad," Elena tried to be optimistic, but it was impossible to decipher if her words were meant for Cloud, who was surrounded by the four Turks, or for her fellow Turks who suffered the same predicament she was in. Her dress was just as silly as their suits and they were all set to partake in a play that night.
"Loveless!" Reno cheered as if he was happy, or at least amused, by the possibility of acting out the play he didn't even understand. But far from being reassured by the redhead's confidence, the leader only worried more, thinking that Reno would do something stupid and uncalled for on the stage, forget his lines, or cause disaster one way or another.
"Loveless?" Cloud repeated unsure, as if that one word would be his doom, and for all he knew it might be. "Loveless!" He spoke again when the meaning finally sunk in. Rufus got stage fright, or so they said, but truth or not, the point was that the pretty boy president backed out and left the Turks to find another actor to replace him in their odd interpretation of the classic Loveless, for the sake of showing Shinra's good will.
While Rude dragged Cloud away to ensure that he got into his costume and understood that he would be hunted down if he escaped, Tseng opened up the packages and handed out the feathered hats. The hat only made Tseng feel even sillier, and when Cloud came back in his ridiculous old style suit, he felt silly with his suit and hat as well.
The two that were least affected were Reno and Rude. Though Elena didn't need to wear a silly hat herself but her dress was festive enough. Reno was amused by the feather and proceeded to play with it, while Tseng continuously warned him not to ruin it. Rude was simply thankful to have something on his head. The bald Turk didn't wear hats, he didn't hide his lack of hair, but now he had an excuse to cover his head and for that he was thankful; especially because the air conditioner was very cold, and those with hair simply did not understand what it was like to get a brain freeze without ice-cream.
End of Record I
Disclaimer, I don't own Final Fantasy VII. Delivery 01 was requested by Hikou. Deliveries 02, 07 and 08 were requested by Snow. The keywords and basic ideas were a spear and Rocket Town for 02, violin, Vincent, Shinra Mansion and hope for 07 and a deck of playing cards for 08. Delivery 03 was requested by Nique, a computer and the Chocobo Farm. Delivery 04 was requested by Feather-wolf. Delivery 06 was requested by Cherri. Delivery 10 was requested by Kaeghlighn.
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